9th January 2006 Archive

One of the most interesting exhibits in the whole of CES, from a UK perspective at least, is the HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Data Packet Access) mobile phone from Samsung. The SGH-ZX20 is a clamshell mobile that will be able to take advantage of the much faster data speeds (up to 3.6Mbps compared to 384kbps of 3G) of the new format.

The US Federal Aviation Authority has responded to the possible threat of terrorist exploitation of the burgeoning space tourism business by drafting some proposed regs to ensure Ossie bin Laden and his mates don't book themselves aboard Virgin Galactic.

The new Cash'n'Carrion Reg merchandising shop is now up and fully functioning and - as a prelude to a Spring burst of e-commerce activity - we're delighted to announce the arrival of a new TechnoDepot t-shirt.

Watch out, Iomega - Seagate has you in its sights. The hard drive giant used the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to sound out the industry on a scheme to create a new removable hard disk drive standard.

There's still little sign of a breakthrough in the stalemate surrounding NTL's bid to buy Virgin Mobile. The Sunday Telegraph reports that the cellco's institutional shareholders are playing hard to get and want the firm to hold out for 400p a share.

The results of our Google Earth black helicopter competition last year proved just how eagled-eyed you lot were when it came to virtual planespotting, but here's one you missed, and a real blast from the past it is too:

Apple UK has confirmed it is turning down orders from residents of the Channel Islands made through its online store while it considers opening a dedicated site serving the small islands in the English Channel quite near France.

Armenian culture minister Ovik Oveyan was inexplicably sacked last week after steaming into the main offices of the country's Armenskiye Electroseti electricity company and pistol whipping two workers.

The MCI name is being airbrushed and replaced instead by a new logo following the completion of its takeover by US telco Verizon. After ten months of wrangling Verizon has finally completed its acquisition of MCI - the US telco formerly known as WorldCom most noted for being at the centre of an $11bn accounting scandal.

After three years of modest or no gains, the number of publicly reported vulnerabilities jumped in 2005, boosted by easy-to-find bugs in web applications. Yet, questions remain about the value of analyzing current databases, whose data rarely correlates easily.

Five million UK adults have fallen victim to a series of moneymaking frauds, such as premium-rate prize scams, work-from-home schemes and Nigerian 419 email scams, according to research published by consumer watchdog Which?.